Goulash

Goulash
Soup or stew
Gulyás in a traditional "bogrács"
Place of origin:
Hungary
Main ingredient(s):
Meat, noodles, vegetables (especially potatoes), paprika, spices
Recipes at Wikibooks:
Goulash
Media at Wikimedia Commons:
Goulash

Goulash (Hungarian: gulyás) is a soup or stew of meat, noodles and vegetables, seasoned with paprika and other spices.^[1] Originating within the historical Hungarian ethnic area, goulash is also a popular meal in Central Europe, Scandinavia and Southern Europe.

It is one of the national dishes of Hungary and a symbol of the country.^[2][3]

Etymology

The name originates from the Hungarian "gulyás" [ˈɡujaːʃ] ( listen). The word "gulya" means "herd of cattle" in Hungarian, and "gulyás" means "herdsman".^[4][5]

The word gulyás originally meant only "herdsman", but over time the dish became gulyáshús (goulash meat) – that is to say, a meat dish which was prepared by herdsmen. Today, gulyás refers both to the herdsmen, and to the soup. From the Middle Ages until well into the 19th century, the Puszta was the home of massive herds of cattle. They were driven, in their tens of thousands, to Europe’s biggest cattle markets in Moravia, Vienna, Nuremberg and Venice. And the herdsmen made sure that there was always one "sickly" creature that had to be slaughtered along the way, the flesh of which provided them with a magnificent gulyáshús.^[6][7]

In Hungary

Gulyás

In Hungarian cuisine, traditional "gulyásleves" (literally "goulash soup"), "bográcsgulyás",^[8] pörkölt, and paprikás were thick stews made by cattle herders and stockmen.^[8] Garlic, tomato, caraway seed, bell pepper, and wine are optional. One may alternatively prepare these dishes as soups rather than stews. Excepting paprikás, the Hungarian stews do not rely on a flour or roux for thickening.

Goulash can be prepared from beef, veal,^[9] pork, or lamb. Typical cuts include the shank, shin, or shoulder; as a result, goulash derives its thickness from tough, well-exercised muscles rich in collagen, which is converted to gelatin during the cooking process. Meat is cut into chunks, seasoned with salt, and then browned with sliced onion in a pot with oil or lard. Paprika is added, along with water or stock, and the goulash is left to simmer. After cooking a while, garlic, whole or ground caraway seed, or soup vegetables like carrot, parsnip, peppers (green or bell pepper), celery and a small tomato may be added. Other herbs and spices could also be added, especially chili pepper, bay leaf and thyme.^[8] Diced potatoes may be added, since they provide starch as they cook, which makes the goulash thicker and smoother. A small amount of white wine or wine vinegar may also be added near the end of cooking to round the taste. Goulash may be served with small egg noodles called csipetke.^[10] The name Csipetke comes from pinching small, fingernail-sized bits out of the dough (csip =pinch) before adding them to the boiling soup.

Hungarian goulash varieties

Hungarian goulash variations^[11]

• Gulyás à la Székely. Reduce the potatoes and add sauerkraut and sour cream.

• Gulyás Hungarian Plain Style. Omit the home made soup pasta (csipetke) and add vegetables.

• Mock Gulyás. Substitute beef bones for the meat and add vegetables. Also called Hamisgulyás, (Fake Goulash)

• Bean Gulyás. Omit the potatoes and the caraway seeds. Use kidney beans instead.

• Csángó Gulyás. Add sauerkraut and rice instead of pasta and potatoes.

• Betyár Gulyás. Use smoked beef or smoked pork for meat.

• Likócsi Pork Gulyás. Use pork and thin vermicelli in the goulash instead of potato and soup pasta. Flavour with lemon juice.

• Mutton Gulyás or Birkagulyás. Made with mutton. Add red wine for flavour.

A thicker and richer goulash, similar to a stew, originally made with three kinds of meat, is called Székely gulyás, named after the Hungarian writer, journalist and archivist József Székely (1825–1895).^[8]

Some cookbooks suggest using roux with flour to thicken the goulash, which produces a starchy texture and a blander taste. Others suggest using a vast amount of tomatoes for colour and taste. A small amount of tomatoes in the stock that is used, or a drop of tomato purée, may improve the taste and texture, but the original goulash is a paprika-based dish and the taste of tomatoes should not be discernible. Many Hungarian chefs consider tomatoes to be absolutely forbidden in goulash and they also feel that if they cook a stew instead of a soup, it should only be thickened by finely chopped potatoes, which must be simmered along with the meat.

Paprikás krumpli

"Paprikás krumpli" is a traditional paprika-based potato stew with diced potatoes, onion, tomato, bell peppers, ground paprika and some bacon or sliced spicy sausage, like the smoked Debrecener, in lieu of beef.

In German-speaking countries this inexpensive peasant stew is made with sausage and known as Kartoffelgulasch ("potato goulash").

Outside Hungary

Thick stews similar to pörkölt and the original cattlemen stew are popular throughout almost all the former Austrian-Hungarian Empire, from Northeast Italy to the Carpathians. Like pörkölt, these stews are generally served with boiled or mashed potato, polenta, dumplings (e.g. nokedli, or galuska), spätzle or, alternatively, as a stand-alone dish with bread.

Albania

Goulash (Albanian: Gullash) is considered a national dish throughout Albania, but its popularity is much more in the Northern parts of the country.

Kosovo

Goulash is a very popular dish all over the country in Kosovo. It is consumed by the majority of the population and is considered a national dish. The goulash in Kosovo is served with Mashed potato. In Kosovo there is a saying "E paske bërë gullash" (Eng: You made it like goulash) which implicates that you mixed something that shouldn't be mixed.

Austria

In Vienna, the former center of the empire, a special branch of the Goulash had been developed. The "Wiener Saftgulasch" or the "Fiakergulasch" on the menu in traditional restaurants is a must-have. It is a rich Pörkölt-like stew; more onions but no tomatoes or other vegetables are used, and it usually comes just with dark bread. A variation of the "Wiener Saftgulasch" is the "Fiakergulasch", which is served with fried egg, fried sausage, and dumplings named "Semmelknödel".

Germany

Gulasch is a beef (Rindergulasch), venison (Hirschgulasch), or wild boar (Wildschweingulasch)^[12] stew that may include red wine and is usually served with potatoes or dumplings. Gulaschsuppe is the same concept served as a soup, but then usually with bread.

Italy

Goulash in Italy is eaten in the region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia and the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, regions that formerly were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Here it is eaten as a regular Sunday dish.^{[citation needed]} It can also, although less typically so, be found in the nearby Veneto.

Slavic cuisines

Goulash (Croatian: Gulaš) is also very popular in most parts of Croatia, especially north (Hrvatsko Zagorje) and Lika. It is considered to be part of traditional cuisine. In Gorski Kotar and Lika deer and boar frequently replace beef - Lovački gulaš. There is also Goulash with porcini mushrooms (Gulaš od vrganja). Bacon is an important part of Croatian goulash.

Gulaš is often served with fuži, njoki, polenta or pasta. In Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian is augmented with vegetables. Green and red bell peppers and carrots are most commonly used. Sometimes one or more other kinds of meat are added, e.g., pork loin, bacon, or mutton. In Slovenia, they are known as Perkelt, but are often referred to as "goulash" or a similar name.

In Slovene partizanski golaž, partisan goulash, favoured by Slovenian partisans during the Second World War, and still regularly served at mass public events; most meat is replaced with quartered potatoes. It is not as thick as goulash, but thicker than goulash soup.

Goulash (Polish: Gulasz) is also popular in Poland, dish is similar to Hungarian Pörkölt and it is usually eaten with buckwheat kasha.

In Serbia, Goulash (Serbian: Гулаш) is eaten in most parts of the country, especially in Vojvodina where it was probably introduced by the Hungarian minority. It is actually a Pörkölt like stew, usually made with beef, veal or pork, but also with game meat like venison, deer and boar. in Serbia, goulash is most often served with boiled potatoes or potato mash.

In the Czech Republic, goulash is usually made with beef and served with bread dumplings (hovězí guláš s knedlíkem) or with bread. In some regions it is garnished with slices of fresh onion. It is typically accompanied by beer. Beer can be also added to the stew in the process of cooking. In Czech slang, the word guláš means "mishmash", typically used as mít v tom guláš: to be disoriented or to lack understanding of something.

United States

American goulash, mentioned in cookbooks since at least 1914, exists in a number of variant recipes.^[13][14] Originally a dish of seasoned beef,^[14] core ingredients of American goulash now usually include elbow macaroni, cubed steak, ground beef or hamburger, and tomatoes in some form, whether canned whole, as tomato sauce, tomato soup, and/or tomato paste.

Other

• Goulash Communism was the maverick brand of communism practiced by Hungary during the Cold War, characterized by some degree of political freedom within the Hungarian Communist Party as well as limited economic freedom and freedom of speech, inspired at least in part by the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

See also

• American goulash
• Beef stew
• National symbols of Hungary

References

Gundel's Hungarian Cookbook, Karoly Gundel, Budapest, CORVINA. ISBN 963-13-3733-2 Betty Crocker's Cookbook

Notes

External links

Look up Goulash in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Goulash.

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of: Cookbook:Paprika Chicken

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Goulash

Wikibooks Cookbook has a recipe/module on Goulash Soup

• Goulash on the Open Directory Project